Cocoa is obtained from the roasted-cured kernels of ripe seeds of Theobroma Cacao Linne, and other species of Theobroma. The roasted kernels are ground to a smooth paste to produce chocolate liquor having a high fat content, and the liquor is then passed through hydraulic filter presses to remove part of the fat, which is sold as cocoa butter. Thereafter, the resulting press cake is pulverized to obtain fine cocoa powder. Typically commercial cocoa powders range in fat content from a low of 8% to a high of 24%. Also typically, cocoa powders employed in confectioner coatings contain 10-12% fat.
Cocoa powder is brownish in color having a chocolate odor and taste, and can be used directly as a foodstuff or as a flavoring agent. A reconstitutable chocolate drink product, for example, is prepared essentially from cocoa powder and a sweetening agent. The chocolate drink product may also include other ingredients such as milk solids, vitamins, iron salts or other flavoring agents such as ground spice, vanilla bean, vanillin, coumarin, salt and the like. Confectionery coatings typically may be comprised of a hard butter, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, lecithin, vanillin and, in the case of milk coatings, whole milk powder, or non-fat dry milk solids and butter oil. Alternatively, confectioner coatings may be formulated from chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, sugar, salt, lecithin, vanillin, and in the case of milk chocolate, whole milk powder or non-fat milk solids and butter oil. In such formulations cocoa powder is indigenous to the chocolate liquor.
Products derived from cocoa bean, such as cocoa powder, and also chocolate liquor and cocoa butter, are products whose availability, unfortunately, and pricing level are subject to wide fluctuation. Particularly in recent years, substantial interest has developed in the preparation of imitation cocoa products due to rapid increase in price of the cocoa bean. However, up to the present time, the principal interest has been in the development of hard butters which function as replacers, extenders or substitutes for cocoa butter. An analogous, but unexploited situation exists for cocoa powder and chocolate liquor.
A number of products are available on the market as cocoa powder substitutes. These products, upon closer examination, are in actuality extenders. Examples are Cocoa-Max (trademark, Cargill, Inc., made from soy flour); Cocomost (trademark Coors Food Product Co., made from yeast), described in British patent application GB 2010657A; and Carob Powder ST-60 (trademark, Spring Tree Corporation). Two other products made by SGA Flavors and A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company are derived from toasted legumes and chemically modified starch, respectively. The latter product also appears to contain soy flour, water, fat, color and flavor in the proportions of about 83% flour and starch (in the ratio of about 2:1), 8% water, 7% fat (soybean, palm and cottonseed) and 2% color/flavor. Such products differ significantly from natural cocoa powder in one or more important characteristics, such as color, water solubility and proximate chemical composition. Data in the following Table 1 are illustrative, the criterion being a natural low fat cocoa powder marketed by Cacaofabrick DeZaan DV under the trademark N-11-N Natural Low Fat Cocoa Powder.* FNT *In this Table, the products listed, other than the DeZaan product, are commercially available cocoa powder substitutes. The values L, a and b represent color measurements as the eye sees them, "L" being a measure of lightness or darkness on a scale of zero to 100, from black to white, respectively. The measurement "a" is a red or green response departing from gray. The measurement "b" is a yellow or blue response; also departing from gray.
TABLE 1 __________________________________________________________________________ Characteristics of Cocoa Powder Substitutes vs. Natural Cocoa Powder Characteristics A PRODUCT L a b B C D E F G H __________________________________________________________________________ Cacaofabrick DeZaan DV- 39 13 16 4 47 6 26 5 5 11 N-11-N Natural Low Fat Cocoa Powder Cargill, Inc. - Cocoa-Max, 33 12 14 8 36 2 47 6 5 4 Tan Natural Coors Food Product Co. - 43 8 14 4 43 4 44 7 1 1 Cocomost Spring Tree Corporation - 37 8 15 9 78 8 6 3 4 1 Carob Powder ST-60 San Giorgio Aromi Flavors, 33 8 12 10 76 6 7 4 6 1 International - SGA Flavors - Cocoa Extender, 6537/S A. E. Staley Manufacturing 63 2 10 6 55 2 24 3 7 9 Company - Cocoa Extender __________________________________________________________________________ A Color, Hunterlab Color Difference Meter, Model D25D2 (L, a, b) Hunter Associates Laboratory B Water solubility (grams dissolved/100 grams of water at about 20.degree C.) C Carbohydrate (grams/100 grams of sample) by difference D Fiber (grams /100 grams) E Protein (grams/100 grams) F Ash (grams/100 grams) G Water (grams/100 grams) H Fat (grams/100 grams)
Such extenders when substituted for cocoa powder 100% on a pound-for-pound basis produce confectioner coatings which tend to be deficient in many respects, for instance flavor, color and viscosity. Data in the following Table 2 are illustrative:
TABLE 2 ______________________________________ Charcteristics of Confectioner Coatings Prepared from Cocoa Powder Substitutes vs. Natural Cocoa Powder at 6% Level B Product A L a b C ______________________________________ DeZaan-N-11-N Natural Low Fat G 27 9 10 68 Cocoa Powder Cargill-Cocoa-Max, Tan Natural P 31 9 11 79 Coors-Cocomost P 29 7 11 65 Spring-Tree-Carob Powder ST-60 P 25 7 9 37 SGA-Flavors-Cocoa Extender P 23 6 8 70 6537/S A. E. Staley-Cocoa Extender F 44 4 10 57 ______________________________________ A Flavor Quality (Good, G; Fair, F; Poor, P) B Coating Color (Hunterlab L, a, b) C Viscosity (Degrees MacMichael at 120.degree. F.)** **As determined on a FisherMacMichael Viscosimeter using a No. 26 spindle wire at 15 r.p.m.
In addition, a number of products have been introduced on the market as chocolate flavors. These are more in the nature of additives to various food items for the purpose of obtaining a chocolate flavor.
For purposes of the present application, the term "imitation cocoa powder" shall mean a cocoa powder analog which can be substituted, 100% on a pound-for-pound basis, for natural cocoa powder, in products where natural cocoa powder conventionally is used. By contrast, the terms "extender," "replacer" and "partial replacer" mean imitation powders exhibiting certain properties of natural cocoa powder, but capable of being used only in combination with natural cocoa powder, without serious reduction in quality.
The term "cocoa powder base," in the present application, means that portion of the cocoa powder analog, minus flavor and fat, which functions to provide bulk and color and which serves as a carrier for the flavor and fat in the preparation of imitation cocoa powder (cocoa powder analog).
One conventional base used for the preparation of so-called cocoa powder replacers or partial replacers has been starch. For instance, prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,625,710 suggests as suitable carriers for chocolate-like flavor a number of materials such as water, ethanol, mineral oil, dextrose, starch or gum arabic. Prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,694,232 contains a similar disclosure describing admixing a chocolate flavoring compound with a carrier such as gum arabic, gum tragacanth, carrageenan and the like, and thereafter spray-drying the resultant mixture to obtain a particulate solid product. Alternatively, the flavor composition can be added to milk solids, sugar and the like. Neither patent teaches the preparation of a product which can be substituted on a 100% pound-for-pound basis for natural cocoa powder and provide in end-use products the same organoleptic and functional properties as natural cocoa powder.
A recently issued U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,740 describes what is referred to as a cocoa extender prepared by roasting peanut grits, almond shells, soybean flakes or mixtures of the same to develop a characteristic cocoa color, and then pulverizing the product to about 200 mesh. The cocoa extender allegedly can be used with cocoa in the proportion of about 99:1 to 1:99, and is said to have the same color, bulk, mouth-feel and flavor as natural cocoa powder.
A manufacturer of products containing natural cocoa powder would prefer, in the use of an imitation product, to be able to replace the natural cocoa powder without in any way having to adjust or vary the formulation. Thus, for example, formulations which deviate significantly in water soluble carbohydrate content from natural cocoa powder tend to be excessively hygroscopic, tend to bloom prematurely in confectioner coatings and exhibit radically different solubility characteristics. Likewise, for example, formulations which deviate significantly in fat content from that found in natural cocoa powders tend to alter coating viscosity, a critical coating parameter which determines the amount of coating deposited. Still further, formulations which deviate significantly in flavor quality from natural cocoa powder, or which do not contain any added flavor, produce coatings which are deficient either qualitatively or quantitatively in desirable flavor characteristics. These are among the reasons that existing art teaches such products can be employed only as extenders or partial replacers.